keeeee-yoto!

took a longish weekend to visit family and procure a very important item. first stop, lunch at a tempura joint before visiting the family graves:


picked up a few exy postcards from teramachi (they were real wood block prints):



cake and coffee at auntie's favorite spot:



last dinner at my uncle's (full on gourmet style! super yum!):



went up to mt. hiezan to escape the heat only to catch the rain:


went to the garden museum which has famous works of art replicated on giant tile slabs and set up throughout a meticulously kept garden. very cool stuff!


a moth seeks shelter from the rain:



it was really pouring:




we had to take refuge in the souvenir shop to wait out the rain:



once it let up and i could see the garden, it was quite remarkable:








i love this picture. my favorite from the bunch:



little critters get some sexy time:



went around the bend to see Enryakuji, a cluster of temples on the other side:



it was beautiful but the weather was coming in again:









and then it started shit storming. we decided to sit it out for a while and rest our legs:


then it was off to the station to catch the shinkansen back to tokyo. Thanks for a great visit!

it's Tanuki Time! (Round Two)

since over 90% of the tanuki's sold are made in Shigaraki, i had my uncle take me to the source and found more of the little suckers than i could ever imagine:





man it was boiling. Aochan feels his flesh burning:




sooo many different kinds! Baseball tanuki:


ninja tanuki:


sumo tanuki:


it was really beautiful out there:






all shapes and sizes:













i got a good one but you'll never know which one . . . . at least not til x-mas.